Cactus pear variety named &#39;dar 1-12-19 red&#39;

ABSTRACT

A new and distinct variety of cactus pear having the following unique combination of desirable features:
     1 A fruit with a red colored edible interior portion.   2. An average Brix of 14.8%   3. An average firmness of the pulp of 3.4 lb   4. An average pulp percentage of 59%.   5. A fruit weight ranging from 125 to 180 g.

No federal or state sponsored research funding was used in thedevelopment of these materials.

LATIN NAME OF THE GENUS AND SPECIES OF THE PLANT CLAIMED

Opuntia ficus-indica L. Miller

VARIETY DENOMINATION

‘DAR 1-12-19 Red’.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Fruits of spiny and spineless Opuntia ficus indica are about 110-180grams, range from 12 to 15% total soluble solids (Brix), have a varietyof fruit colors, i.e. green, orange, red and purple, and have been grownin many arid regions of the world such as Mexico, Brazil, Chile,Argentina, Spain, Italy, Israel, South Africa for commercial fruitproduction (Parish and Felker, 1997). The market use of the fruit is tobe consumed fresh after the peel is removed. Mexico is the world centerof production with great variation in spines, fruit colors, dates ofmaturity and Brix (Mondragon and Gonzalez, 1996). While the lime greenvariety Reyna is the leading cactus pear variety in Mexico (Mondragonand Gonzalez, 1994), this variety has long spines that prevent itscultivation in the USA due to objections from harvesting crews.Mondragon and Gonzalez, (1996) have reported fruits of many colors, butthey have not provided experimental details on field design, laboratorymethods or coefficients of variation for these properties and they donot provide data on firmness of the edible inner portion which Felker etal., (2005) have suggested needs to be greater than 2.2 lb for a goodquality fruit. Moreover D'Arrigo Bros data on fruit Brix, firmness,weight, peel thickness, percentage of edible portion on more than 30,000fruit of existing varieties and progeny of new crosses is not inagreement with Brix values of 15-16 for red or purple colored fruitsreported by Mondragon and Gonzalez, (1996). Opuntia fruit data fromrefereed journal articles in which field and laboratory experimentaldetails with estimates of the variation, have been provided by Barberaet al., (1992), Nerd et al., (1991) and Felker et al., (2005).

In 1998, D'Arrigo Bros obtained copies of the more than 100 Opuntiaclones from Texas A&M University Kingsville (that were later depositedin the USDA Opuntia germplasm collection in Parlier, Calif.) thatrepresented all of the major types present in Mexico, South Africa,Argentina and Chile. As described below, none of the existing cultivarsmet D'Arrigo Bros objectives of high pulp firmness (>2.8 lb), high Brix,(>14), thornlessness and red color in the same plant and thereforehybridizations were conducted to obtain the desired variety. Thiscollection included the Texas A&M University Kingsville accession 1281,that was collected at the Universidad Autonoma de Chapingo where itscommon name was rojo vigor, and that is similar to the Rojo Pelondescribed by Mondragon and Gonzalez (1996).

There are extensive plantations of cactus pear for fruit in theMediterranean, principally Sicily but also Spain and Israel. Opuntiaficus indica was brought to Spain on one of the first voyages ofChristopher Columbus from where it spread to the rest of theMediterranean region. In the largest commercial production area of theMediterranean in Sicily, there are 3 varieties, ‘Rossa’ (with redfruit), ‘Gialla’ (with yellow fruit) and ‘Bianca’ (with almost colorlessfruit) (Barbera et al., 1992). These three varieties were essentiallythe same with regard to fruit quality with a maximum Brix of about 13%(Barbera et al., 1992). Nerd et al., (1991) in Israel, found the Brix ofthe summer Ofer variety (which is yellow and similar to the ‘Gialla’from Sicily) to be 11.8% in the winter and 12.8% in the summer. InArgentinean field trials Texas A&M Kingsville (TAMUK) accession 1281(which is very similar to the Italian ‘Rossa’) and TAMUK 1277 and 1320(which are similar to Italian ‘Gialla’) had Brix values of about 12.6,12.7 and 13.0 respectively (Felker et al., 2005).

In spite of acceptable fruit sugar concentrations of about 13% in highyielding varieties, such as Italian ‘Rossa’ and ‘Gialla’ types(including 1281, 1277, 1320), these varieties have very low pulpfirmness of about 2 lb (versus 4 lb for spiny orange 1287 and greenfruited Argentine and Chilean varieties) which lead to poor consumeracceptance in Argentina (Felker et al., 2005). While firmness is theparameter measured, the objectionable quality is that pulps with lowfirmness values lack structural integrity and may break apart when thepeel is separated from the pulp. A pulp firmness of about 2.2 lb hasbeen suggested as the minimum acceptable for cactus fruit (Felker etal., 2005).

In the USA, the only commercial variety, the Andyboy red, is similar tothe Italian ‘Rossa. The Andyboy red has a Brix of about 13.5 in thesummer crop, but maybe as low as 10.5 in the mid winter crop. Perhapsdue to the cooler weather of the growing region in the USA, the redfruits do not break apart when peeled, but they are not as firm andjuicy as other types. The Andyboy red is also in the low range of pulpfirmness of about 2 lb. In the USA, the major demand from consumers isfor the red colored fruit, which also has higher antioxidant values thanthe yellow or green fruits, but is less than the purple ones (Stintzinget al., 2005).

In addition to the published work on the lack of firmness and Brix inred colored fruits, one of us (PF) has visited cactus plantations inSouth Africa, Italy, Mexico, Chile and Argentina and has not found firm,high Brix red fruits in any existing germplasm collection.

Therefore using the basic crossing technique of Wang et al., (1996),hybrids were made between high firmness, high Brix fruits of othervarieties and commercial high producing, low Brix, low firmness redfruited varieties to develop a high Brix, high firmness red fruit with agood commercial yield. Progeny of various crosses were planted nearChualar, Calif. and evaluated for Brix and firmness using previouslydescribed techniques (Felker et al., 2005). About one dozen clones ofeach color class (green, orange, red and purple) from more than 3000progeny of various crosses were selected and planted in a randomizedcomplete block trial with four replicates (with one plant per replicate)to directly compare fruit characters for these advanced selections. Fortwo years, several fruits were taken from each of the four replicates,once a month from about September till May. The best red fruited varietyof this randomized complete block trial, originally from Block 1, row 12plant 19 of this trial was found to have the best overall combination ofcharacters and is the subject of this patent. The parents of this plantwere a spineless red fruited commercial and a spiny green fruited plantdenoted BR-59 from our germplasm collection. None of the parents havebeen patented or have patent pending.

Asexual Propagation

All cactus pear varieties are asexually propagated by cutting anapproximate one year old cladode from the mother plant, allowing the cutscar to heal over for approximately 2 weeks and then planting thisunrooted cladode (botanically a portion of a dicot stem) about ⅓ of itsheight into dry soil. If the cladode does not rot, 100% of them willroot in less than a month without any hormone treatments.

Apomixis, that is the asexual reproductive process that occurs in theovule of flowering plants, frequently occurs in Opuntia ficus indica(Mondragon-Jacobo, 2001). While the ratio of apomictic seedlings toseedlings resulting from fertilization varies greatly among femaleparents, we have found that apomixis occurs in this new variety. Thusthis variety could be propagated asexually from apomictic seedlings. Itis envisioned that this variety could be genetically engineered toinclude other traits.

This variety is asexually propagated by planting unrooted cladodes. Theclaimed plant retains its distinctive characteristics and reproducestrue to type in successive generations.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to overcoming soft, low Brix characteristics inred fruited cactus pears by controlled hybridization to produce cactuspears with significantly greater fruit firmness and total soluble solids(Brix).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In FIG. 1 can be seen the exterior and interior portions of maturefruits of ‘DAR 1-12-19 Red’ at optimal harvest conditions after thespines and glochids removed. The interior of the fruit, after the peelhas been removed, is the edible portion.

In FIG. 2 can be seen immature fruits of ‘DAR 1-12-19 Red’ showing theglochids.

FIG. 3 illustrates a one year old cladode of ‘DAR 1-12-19 Red’ showingspines on the flat surface and margins of a cladode.

FIG. 4 shows a mature upright, four year old plant of ‘DAR 1-12-19 Red’that was thinned to increase fruit size.

FIG. 5 shows open flowers of ‘DAR 1-12-19 Red’ illustrating thevariation in petal colors from morning to afternoon, the stigma anddehiscing anthers.

DETAILED BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION

The color chart used in this specification follows The RoyalHorticultural Society Color Chart year 1996. The fruits have a narrowelliptic shape. At optimal harvest conditions, the external peel colorranges in color from a pinkish/red 53C, 53B, 54A to an orange/red 171Bwhile the interior edible portion of the fruit ranges from 47B that isthe pinkish matrix to 50C that is the whitish interior. Other redvarieties are too soft if harvested when 100% of the fruit surface hasthe red/pink color and must be harvested when 50-60% of the fruit iscovered with the pinkish/reddish color. In contrast, due to the highfirmness, this variety can be harvested when the external peel color is100% red. There are about 57 areoles per fruit in which the number ofglochids per areola greater than 2 mm in length is about 6. Due to thecool weather in the area where these fruits are grown, there areconsiderable glochids, especially on immature fruit as can be seen inFIG. 2. The maximum glochid length is about 11 mm. There are less thanabout 100 glochids per areole. There is no pubescence. According to theUPOV classification, the stalk length is medium and the classificationof the floral scar depression is 2. The peel thickness is about 5 mm.

While this variety does not have multiple, long (3-5 cm) spines comingout from each areole of the cladodes as do Opuntias from the wild, ascan be seen in FIG. 3, it does have single small semi erect spines ofcolor 155D about 7 mm in length coming out of some of the areoles. Thesespines occur most frequently on the margins of the cladode but can alsobe seen on the flat side of the cladodes. There are about 37 areoles percladode with a color of 166A. There are no glochids on one year oldmature pads. The cladodes, which have a color of 137C, have a smoothsurface that is not waxy or pubescent. The sizes of the cladodes aregreatly influenced by the climate and growing conditions. Nevertheless,near Gonzalez, California where these plants are grown, a typical maturepad would have a narrow obovate shape and be about 55 cm long, 20 cmwide and 1.9 cm thick. Many of the cladodes have a concave aspect,either along the main length axis of the cladodes or along the widthaxis of the cladodes. A mature 4 year old plant is about 4 meters wideand 2.5 meter tall.

The flower diameter is about 5 cm and the length of the flower only (notincluding the immature supporting bud) is about 3 cm long. The length ofsupporting immature bud, when the flower is open, varies from about 2 cmto 6 cm depending on season of the year and moisture/fertilityconditions. The flowers lack fragrance. The color of the broad ellipticshaped petals ranges during the day from about a 23A yellow-orange groupwhen recently opened, to about an orange-red group 30A at the end of theday. This range of colors is illustrated in FIG. 5 with two flowers ofdifferent ages on the same cladode. Only one stigma, with a height ofabout 5 mm, occurs with a light green color (144B). The style has acolor of 69D. There are about 500 stamens per flower that are about 14mm long and that have color 2D on the top portion and 62D on the bottomportion. Anthesis, in the location where the plants are grown, peaks inMay and June depending on the weather but some anthesis occurs as lateas November. The flowers are not pollinated by honey bees but rather bya specialized cactus bee that makes its nest in holes in the ground.

In Table 1 can be found a comparison of the means and 95% confidenceintervals for 93 analyses of Texas A&M 1281 which is a red fruitedvariety, that is very similar to the commercial ‘Rossa’ from Italy, andour new variety ‘DAR 1-12-19 Red’. It is to be noted that the Brix of12.7, fruit size of 145 grams and 55% pulp percentage are similar topublished values for the Rossa variety described above. In contrast theaverage of 187 analyses for ‘DAR 1-12-19 Red’ shows a 2% increase inBrix (from 12.7 to 14.8), a 78% increase in firmness (from 1.9 to 3.4)and a slight increase in pulp percentage (from 55 to 59). The averagefruit weight of ‘DAR 1-12-19 Red’ is smaller than 1281, but we believethe much greater eating quality will make up for this difference. Thefruit size of ‘DAR 1-12-19 Red’ is very susceptible to culturalmanagement and we have been able to increase this size with culturalpractices.

TABLE 1 A comparison of new ‘DAR 1-12-19 Red’ Opuntia ficus indica withred fruit to a standard commercial red type fruit TX 1281. AverageAverage Number Average of 95% CI Average of 95% CI of pulp 95 % CI of ofBrix 95% CI firmness of Fruit of fruit percent of pulp Variety analyses(%) of Brix (Ib) firmness weight (g) weight (%) percent 1-12-19 187 14.80.19 3.4 0.09 125.4 5.0 59 1.0 TX1281  93 12.7 0.20 1.9 0.07 145.5 4.955 1.2

With regard to seed content, the TX 1281 had 4.59 grams of seeds per 100gram of edible pulp (with a 95% confidence interval of 0.56) while the‘DAR 1-12-19 Red’ had 3.28 grams of seeds per 100 grams of pulp (with a95% confidence interval of 0.56)

In the area where these cacti are grown commercially in Gonzalez,Calif., approximately 40 km from the Pacific Ocean, the maximum dailytemperatures during the growing season rarely exceed temperatures of 30C for more than a few hours. However occasionally in the fall of theyear, the orchards experience daily maximum temperatures of 35 C forseveral days. In some varieties, particularly green varieties withoutany betaxanthin or betacyanin pigments, this abrupt change intemperature results in serious damage to fruit quality. In this case,the edible portion of the fruits changes from an opaque solid appearanceto a water soaked, translucent appearance and the flavor is no longeracceptable. This phenomenon has been denoted “clearing” by growers. Incontrast to the green fruited varieties, this reddish/pink ‘DAR 1-12-19Red’ does not experience “clearing”.

In the location where the varieties are grown in the cool coastal regionof central California, normally the date of first picking is the firstof September and the date of last picking is May 15. Under optimalstorage conditions of refrigeration and humidity control, this nonclimacteric fruit has a shelf life of about 3 weeks. The plant canwithstand a few hours of 20 F with the only damage being to flowers andimmature cladodes. Temperatures in the Salinas Valley where the plantsare grown never exceed 98 F and the plants suffer no damage from thesetemperatures. The plant is has good vigor in producing new cladodes fromMarch/April until late November.

The major disease is known as engrosamiento de cladodios (pad swelling)in Mexico that causes stunting of fruits and pads. Our recent researchindicates this is caused by an Umbravirus that is transmitted by cowpeaaphids. To date all commercial fruit type varieties are susceptible tothis virus. The plant is also susceptible to damage from wild cochineal(Dactylopius spp) insects.

1. A new and distinct red fruited Opuntia ficus indica plant named ‘DAR1-12-19 Red’, substantially as illustrated and described, characterizedby an increased pulp percentage and substantially increased Brix andfirmness over any red fruited cactus pear variety.